Projectile carrier for aircraft



Dec 14 1926. 1,610,343

s. wlLr-:Y

PROJECTILE CARRIER FOR AIRCRAF T Filed July 28, 1924 '2 sheets-'sheet 1 'E amuel Wil EH atto: new

Dec. 14 1926. 1,610,343

s. WILEY PROJECTLE CARRIER FOR AIRCRAFT Filed July 28, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 abbina* Patented Dec. 14, 1926.

PATNT FFICE.

SAMUEL WLEY, OF METUCHEN, NEW' JERSEY.

PROJECTLE CARRER FOR AIRCRAFT.

Application filed July 28, 1924. Serial No. 728,727.

(GRANTED UNDER THE ACT 0F MARCH 3, 1883; 22 STAT. L. 625.)

The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or any of its ofiicers or employees in prosecution of work for the Government, or by any other person in the United States, without payment to me of any royalty thereon, in accordance with the act of March 3, 1883.

T he subject of this invention is a projectile carrier for aircraft. Y

1n dropping projectiles of the flare and signal type from aircraft, it is advantageous to have the projectile immediately available when needed andv to position it so that it will be incapable of ignition in the plane. It is also desirable to retain the projectile container in the pla-ne, so that it will not drop and endanger life and property.

I propose to mount in the plane as permanent equipment a carrier adapted to position a projectile within an opening formed in the floor of the plane and which will effectively retain the projectile container at all times and' especially when the releasing mechanism is stripped from the projectile container. I construct a carrier with flared or beveled edges to facilitate insertion of aA container and l also provice means to automatically lock the container after it has beenl attached.

The carriers are disposed in pairs on opposite sides of the fuselage, one of the carriers being arranged vertically of the plane and the other inclined at an angle so that each pair of projectiles may loe released together and be made to travel in divergent paths.

To these and other ends, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and

combination of elements, described herein-v after and pointed out in the claims forming a part of this specification.

A practical embodiment of my invention is illustrated` in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an aeroplane showing the arrangement of the carriers;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the plane;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the manner of attaching a. projectile;

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the assembled carrier; v

Fig. 5 is a front view;

Figs. 6 and 7 are perspectives of the back plate and slide;

Fig. 8 is a perspective of the attaching hook of a projectile;

Fig. 9 is an end view;

Figs. 10 and 11 are detail views of the front plates;

Fig. 12 is a front view of a slightly modified form; and

Fig. 13 is a sectional view taken on the line 13-13 of Fig. 12.

Referring to the drawings by numerals of reference:

The fuselage 10 of an aeroplane is' provided with opposite pairs of projectile containers 11, the rear containers being inclined at an angle and each container supported by a carrier l2.

The carrier comprises a baclr plate 13, separate front plates 14 and 15, and a projectile supporting slide member 16 carried between the front and back plate.

The back plate 13 is formed with a vertically disposed groove 17, the upper portions of the side and rear walls thereofy formed lwith beveled surfaces 18-18 and 19 to form a flared, hopper-like mouth to facilitate insertion of the attaching hook 2O of a projec tile container 11.

The right hand portion of the plate is formed with a horizontally disposed groove 22 extending from the edge ofthe plate to the vertical groove 17, while spaced from the side wall of the groove 17 and located centrally with respect to the horizontal groove 22 is a slot 23.

rlhc left hand portion of the plate is also formed with al horizontal groove 24: of less width than the right hand groove 22, its lowerface being on the same plane as the corresponding face of the right hand groove to form an interrupted continuation of the horizontal groove extending across the en-V tire front face ofv the baclr plate.

The lower faces of each of the horizontal grooves are formed adjacent the vertical groove with steps 25to act as a guide and y stop 'for a pin 31 carried onthe supporting slide member.

The right and left hand grooves are of Vsufficient depth to accommodate and space the supporting slide 1G from the rear wall of the vertical groove so that the attaching hook 2O may be inserted therebetween. rlhe supporting slide 1G is an elongated member of unequal width to slide freely in the unequal complementary right and left hand groove of the back plate and to bridge the vertical groove formed therein. The meeting edge of the unequal portions forms a beveled under cut lug 26 which is engaged by the hook 2O during insertion of the projectile container to cam the slide to the right and to permit the bool; to rest upon and be supported by the narrower left portion of the supporting slide.

Attached to the slide by a rivet 27 is a coil spring 2S working in the slot 23, the opposite end of the springrbeing secured to the back plate inv any suitable manner, specifically by inserting the end in a recess 29 in the bacli'plate. The slide is cammed to the right against the tension of the coil spring and when the hook 20 of the projectile container clears the lug 26 to rest upon the narrower portion of the slide the spring returns the slide thereby disposing the lug above the hook and preventing` displacement of the projectile container when a release mechanism attached to the container is pulled.

The inward movement of the slide is arrested by a stop pin 30 extending through the slide and engaging the back plate 13 and right front plate 14 and also by a similar pin 31 inserted and depending from the lower edge of the slide and working in the A step ofthe left hand groove 24. The slide is prevented from beincrfentirely withdrawn from the. baclr plate by a similar step 25 formed in the right handgroove 22 and engageable by the pin 31.

`The round end 32 of the slide 16 projects from the back plate land is provided with an aperture 33 for the reception of a lanyard j 34 or other suitable mechanism for withdrawing the slide aV suiiicient distance to enable the projectile container to be removed from the carrier.

j The carrier assembly is completed by conveniently riveting the right and left front plates 14 and 15 to the back plate 13. The front plates are adapted to close the right and left horizontal groove of the back plates and may be formed with beveled corners 35 to conform with the beveled surfaces 15%*18 of'uthe side walls of the vertical groove.

The carrier is provided with apertures 36 for the reception of screws 37 to secure the carrier to the plane.

The front plat-es may bedispensed with by constructing the back plate and the supporting slide member with any form of toneue or 0roove arrangement as shown 1n b b 2D the modified carrier in Figures 11 and 12. rlhe slide member may be provided with a slot 38 to receive a pin 39 for limiting movement of the slide.

TWhile in the foregoing there has been illustrated and described such combination andrarrangcment of elements as constitute the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is nevertheless desired to emphasize the fact that interpretation of the invention should only be condlusive when made in the light of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

l1. A carrier for projectiles embodying a back plate formed with a vertical and an inlterruated horizontal Groove the vertical groove formed with a flared mouth to facilitate insertion of a projectile container, the horizontal groove open to a slot formed in the back plate, a supporting slide member mounted in the back plate, said member having a beveled under cut lug normally positioned in the vertical groove and adapted to be withdrawn therefrom during insertion of a projectile, a coil spring attached to the back plate and slide and working in the slot to move the slide inward, a lanyard secured to the supporting member for manually withdrawing the supporting member, means formed on said member for limiting its inward and outward movement, and front pla-tes for closing the interrupted horizontal groove.

2. A carrier for projectiles embodying a plate formed with a vertical groove having a flared mouth and further formed with unequal horizontal grooves positioned on either side of the vertical groove, a` supporting member slidable in the horizontal grooves and bridging the vertical groove, a beveled under cut lug formed on the supporting member normally positioned in the vertical groove and adapted to be withdrawn therefrom during insertion of a projectile container, a spring for returning the supporting member to position the lug above the projectile, means for limiting the inward movement of said member, and means for manually withdrawing said member.

3. A carrier for projectiles embodying a plate formed with a vertical groove having a flared mouth and further formed with unequal horizontal grooves positioned on either side of the vertical groove, a supporting member of unequal width slidable in the horizontal grooves and bridging the vertical groove, the meeting edge of the unequal p0rtions ofthe supporting member normally positioned in the vertical groove and adapted to be withdrawntherefrom during insert-ion of a projectile container, means for returning the supporting member .to positionthe meeting edge above the projectilecontainer, means positioned at opposite ends of the supporting member to limit its inWard movement, and means :tor manually withdrawing said member.

4. A carrier for projectiles embodying a plate formed With a vertical groove having a flared mouth and further formed with unequal horizontal grooves positioned on either side of the vertical groove, a supporting member of unequal Width slidable in the horizontal grooves and bridging the vertical groove, the meeting edge of the unequal portions of the supporting member normally positioned in the vertical groove and adapted tobe Withdrawn therefrom during insertion of a projectile, and means for returning the supporting member to position the meeting edge above the projectile.

5. A carrier for projectiles embodying a plate formed With a vertical groove for permitting insertion of the hook end of a projectile container, a projectile supporting lmember slidably carried by the plate, said member adapted to be partially Withdrawn during insertion of the projectile and automatically returned to position a portion thereof above the hook end of the projectile.

6. A carrier for projectiles embodying a plate, a projectile supporting member carried by the plate and automatically reciprocable to receive and retain a projectile upon insertion thereof, said member retractable to release the projectile.

SAMUEL WILEY. 

